Heel-attaching machine



Jan. 26, 1943. w. w. WOOLDRID'GE ATTACHING MACHINE Filed Oct. 2, 1941 HEEL Patented Jan. 26, 1943 UNETED STATES QE 'EEQEL l-IEEL-ATTACHIN G MACHINE Application October 2, 1941, Serial No. 413,245

10 Claims.

My invention relates to machines for attaching heels to shoes, it being especially concerned with the pressure mechanism or holddown by which a heel is clamped upon the heel-seat of a shoe for the fastening-inserting operation.

In the nailing of heels to shoes, a well known holddown mechanism is of the compensating type, in which an interconnection between members which engage, respectively, the tread and rear of a heel, communicates the movement of one member to the other. After the engagement of both members has been established, this interconnection equalizes the pressure applied and for most forms of heels furnishes very effective displacement-preventing means. When, however, the rear of a heel is relatively straight, as in the Cuban type of heel, there is a tendency for the rear member, which is in the form of a fork, to slide down the heel. This allows the tread member to rise, so the heel is forced forward out of position upon the heel-seat of the shoe. To overcome this difliculty, a common practice is to secure the two heel-engaging members against relative movement, utilizing the tread member only to effect the clamping of the heel. Under these conditions, in applying the heel to the heelseat, the operator must both locate it transversely and hold the breast properly up to the cut or shoulder upon th outsole. This is difficult to accomplish satisfactorily, and an object of my invention is to ensure a tight joint at the heelbreast without effort on the part of the operator. In the attainment of this object, in a pressure-head movable toward and from a support for a shoe and heel, I combine with a tread-engaging member or plate a member, preferably in the form of a spring-actuated plunger, yieldable upon the head and contacting with the rear of the heel before the engagement of th'! associated member with the tread. This rear member thrusts the breast of the heel against co-operating surface of the sole, and, as it yields, holds the heel firmly in place while the descent of the tread member applies clamping pressure. To permit the correct engagement of the holddown with heels differing in form, the pressurehead may carry a plurality of the rear members, as the yieldable plunger and the customary fork. together with means arranged to secure one of them in either an active or an inactive position. The fork may be free to slide transversely upon its mounting, so it will adapt itself to the heel as located by the operator. The invention is herein disclosed in connection with a compensating heel-holddown, in which two racks guided in a pressure-head are caused to move together by an intermediate pinion, which racks may be secured against relative movement for use in connection with strai ht-back hee When the racks are thus held, my yieldable member contacts with the heel to urge it into position to receive the clamping eiiect of the tread member. When the rear fork is to be used instead of the yieldable member or plunger for the retention of heels more inclined at the rear, said plunger may be secured in its mounting in an inactive position.

The accompanying drawing illustrates one of several. possible embodiments of the invention,

Fig. showing my improved holddown in broside elevation and out of clamping relation;

Fig. 2 being a similar View with the heel clamped for the operation upon it;

Fig. 3, an elevation, looking from the right in Fig. the engaging members for the rear of the heel; and

Fig. 4, a top plan view of said members.

At appears the jack of a machine designed the attachment of heels to shoes by nails driven from within. A. shoe S is shown as supported upon the jack with a heel H upon its he. Nails N are inserted by drivers 52 reciprocating in passages in the jack. Co-c-perating with the j ask is a head P, generally of a form well known, and movable vertically upon the frame of the machine to first apply to the work preliminary pressure, while the heel is being located the heel-seat by the operator, and then final pressure to clamp the work during the driving of the nails. Upon the head.v a slide is is adjustable horizontally from front to rear of the machine by a screw It. Guided for vertical reciprocation in the slide are two parallel racinbars i8 and The front bar it carries at its lower extremity a plate 22, adjustable as to angle by a screw 2% and adapted for engagement with the tread-surface of the heel. Pivoted for angular adjustment upon the rear bar it, retained by a detent device 26, is mounting 23 by which is carried a fork to for engagement with the rear of the heel and the heelengeging device or pushing finger E of this invention. Meshing with the opposed teeth of the two rack-bars is a pinion rotatable in the slide and communicating the movement of either r oppositely to the other. An expansion-spring st, interposed between the bar l8 and the slide 14, biases the pressure mechanism to hold the tread-plate 22 normally down and the mounting 28 raises. The compensating eliect of the gearbar, this locking the tread-plate at or near its lowest position and the rear member elevated.

Considering now the features peculiar to my invention, the mounting 222 has attached at its lower reduced rear portion 33 by screws til, til a bracket 32. Pivoted upon the bracket at $3 is the divided head at of a spindle Gt. Slidable upon the spindle is a casing 18, retained against displacement by a pin 55 set in the spindle and projecting into slots 52 in the casing. The casing is urged normally outward upon the spindle, in a direction generally longitudinalof the bottom of a jacked shoe, by an interposed expansion-spring 5 thus furnishing aspring-actuated plunger. The finger E may be located in an active position, ready for engagement with the rear of a heel upon the it, as appears in full lines in Fig. l, or in an inactive position clear of the work, as indicated in dotted lines. In either position, it may be secured by a pin 55 attached to the bracket "52 and inserted in alinecl openings in the finger-head M, and in the re" spective openings 66 or E2 in the bracket and with which the head-openings are selectively brought into registration. To retain it conveniently for use, the pin may be attached to the bracket by a chain 5 3. The lower extremity of the casing is cushioned by a covering $5 of some such material as leather, retained in place by screws 6?.

The fork'Sfi is preferably arranged to slide at the front of the mounting portion 31% It has a tongue or projection 68 movable along a transverse groove in the portion 38, the tongue being retained in the groove by a screw l2 passing through a transverse slot it in said portion 3 .1 and being threaded into the body of the fork, where it is secured by a check-nut 761. The head of the screw i2 is recessed into the bracket 42 at it. The inner or heel-engaging surfaces of the fork are, like the finger E, cushioned at at with leather, or the like, held by clamp-bars 82 and screws B l.

Assuming that the holddown of this invention is to be employed in connection with the attachment of a heel if having relatively little pitch,

such as that illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, the

operator, inserting the pin 8t in the openings in the slide l4 and in the front rack-bar l3, secures the tread-plate 22 in its lowered relation. The fork 3b is correspondingly raised, while the cushioned end of the finger E projects below the fork, it being there held by the pin 56 inserted through the openings in the finger-head id and in the opening 653 in the bracket 32. Nails N having been supplied to the jack-passages upon the drivers 2, a shoe S is jacked and a heel H applied to the heel-seat. The plate 22 is initially spaced from the tread-surface of the heel; the fork 3b is substantially separated from the lower portion of the sides of the heel; while at the rear the cushioned surface of the yieldable fingercasing 48 lies in proximity to the center of the rear of the heel. This is as appears in Fig. l. The position of the fork is such that the operator has ample space to introduce his fingers at the opposite sides of the heel to correctly locate it transversely. Upon depression of the treadle of the machine, the plate 22 approaches the tread-surface of the heel, but, before it makes contact, the cushioned surface 66 of the finger engages the heel, exerting substantially all its force to urge the breast against the shoulder on or cut in the outsole s of the shoe. As the descent of the tread-plate continues and it seats itself upon the heel, the spring 54 yields, so the forward force exerted by the finger is limited to that necessary to maintain a. tight joint at the breast, until the tread-plate effects the clamping of the work (Fig. 2). Then the drivers i2'rise to insert the heel-attaching nails. The machine having performed its power-cycle, the head P is retracted'and the heeled shoe may be removed from the jack.

If the heel to be attached has a relatively heavy pitch, so the fork 3%! may effectively be used to resist rearward displacement, the locking pin for the compensating mechanism is removed from its openings; the pin 5'6 is taken out of the openings in the finger E and its supporting bracket; the finger turned rearwardly and upwardly; and the pin placed in the finger-openings and the bracket-opening 52. The finger now is ineffective, and the heel is first engaged by the tread-plate and then by the rear fork. If either of the arms of the fork strikes the side of the heel before the other, the capacity of the body of said fork to slide laterally upon the mounting 23 allows it to adjust itself so the arms bear equally. With both the tread and rear members resting upon the heel, the final clamping proceeds as is usual in compensating holddowns.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a heel-attaching machine, a support for a shoe and a heel, a pressure-head movable toward and from the support, a heel-tread-engaging member carried by the head, and a member yieldable upon the head and contacting with the rear of the heel before the engagement of the associated member with the tread.

2. In a heel-attaching machine, a support for a shoe and a heel, a pressure-head movable toward and from the support, a tread-plate carried by the head, a mounting attached to the head, and a spring-actuated plunger movable in the mounting for engagement with the rear of a heel upon the support, it being arranged to reciprocate in the mounting in a direction longitudinally of the shoe-bottom.

3. In a heel-attaching machine, a support for a shoe and a h el, a pressure-head movable toward and from the support, a heel-tread-engaging member carried by the head, a plurality of members carried by the head for engagement with the rear of the heel, and means arranged to secure one of the rear members in either an active or an inactive position.

4. In a heel-attaching machine, a support for a shoe and a heel, a pressure-head movable toward and from the support, a tread-plate carried by the head, a mounting attached to the head, a fork and a spring-actuated plunger carried by the mounting for engagement with the rear of the heel, and means arranged to secure the plunger in either an active or an inactive position.

5. In a heel-attaching machine, a support for a shoe and a heel, a pressure-head movable toward and from the support, a tread-plate carried by the head, a mounting attached to the head at the rear of the support, a fork free to slide upon the mounting transversely of the heel, a spring-actuated plunger movable upon the mounting, and means arranged to secure the plunger in either an active or an inactive position.

6. In a compensating heel-holddown, a pressure-head, two racks guided for reciprocation in the head, means for communicating the movement of one rack to the other, means arranged to secure the racks against relative movement, a heel-tread-plate carried by one rack, and a yieldable member movable upon the other rack for engagement with the rear of the heel while the racks are held against relative movement.

7. In a compensating heel-holddown, a pressure-head, two racks guided for reciprocation in the head, a pinion communicating the movement of one rack to the other, means arranged to secure the racks against relative movement, a heel-tread-plate carired by one rack, a bracket attached to the other rack and having a projecting spindle, a casing guided upon the spindle for engagement with the rear of the heel, and a spring interposed between the spindle and casing.

8. In a compensating heel-holddown, a pressure-head, two racks guided for reciprocation in the head, a pinion communicating the movement of one rack to the other, means arranged to secure the racks against relative movement, a heel-tread-plate carried by one rack, a fork carried by the other rack for engagement with the rear of a heel, a spring-actuated plunger carried by said other rack for engagement with the rear of the heel, and means arranged to secure one of the rear engaging members in an active or an inactive position.

9. In a compensating heel-holddo-wn, a pressure-head, two racks guided for reciprocation in the head, a pinion communicating the movement of one rack to the other, means arranged to secure the racks against relative movement, a heel-tread-plate carried by one rack, a fork carried by the other rack for engagement with the rear of a heel, a bracket attached to said other rack, a spring-actuated plunger pivoted upon the bracket for engagement with the rear of the heel, and means arranged to secure the plunger upon the bracket in an active or an inactive position.

10. In a compensating heel-holddown, a pressure-head, two racks guided for reciprocation in the head, a pinion communicating the movement of one rack to the other, means arranged to secure the racks against relative movement, a heel-tread-plate carried by one rack, a bracket attached to the other rack, a spindle pivoted upon the bracket, there being openings in the bracket and spindle adapted to receive a pin to secure the spindle in different positions about its pivot, a casing guided upon the spindle for engagement with the rear of a heel, and a spring interposed between the spindle and the casing.

WILLIAM W. WOOLDRIDGE. 

